An XL Bully was destroyed after a woman allowed it to be unmuzzled and off-lead in a secure field.
Jamie Lee Ogilvie, 29, was fostering the dog at the time of the offending at Fife Secure Dog Park, Jamphlars Road, Cardenden, on March 26 last year.
As of February 23 2024 in Scotland, XL Bullies became subject to new rules which banned the breeding and sale of the animals and meant they must be muzzled and kept on leads in public places.
Legislation was brought in after the breed was linked to a string of serious and sometimes fatal attacks.
Ogilvie, of Urquhart Green, Glenrothes, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to plead guilty to allowing the XL bully she was then in charge of to be in a public place without being muzzled and kept on a lead.
Prosecutor Azrah Yousaf told the court Ogilvie had offered to foster the XL Bully for eight weeks and picked it up before taking it to a dog exercise field.
The fiscal depute said it was around 8pm when the dog was in the field, not muzzled, and police attended for “another matter”.
Ogilvie was cautioned and charged and he dog was later euthanised, the fiscal said.
Prosecutors accepted Ogilvie’s not guilty plea to a second allegation that, at the same dog park on the same date, she was in charge of a dangerously out of control XL Bully which jumped up onto a then six-year-old child, bit the child on the body, locked the child in its jaws and swung them around, all to their injury.
‘Innocent mistake’
Defence lawyer Kerr Sneddon said Ogilvie had fostered the dog for a short time and is an animal lover who did not want it euthanised.
He said his client believed she was doing the right thing with the dog and it is only when looking at the legislation it is clear this includes being muzzled even in enclosed areas for the public.
Mr Sneddon pointed out Ogilvie had taken the dog to a completely enclosed, secure dog park to determine its demeanour and through ignorance, thought she could release it from the muzzle and lead in this area.
He said: “It’s a relatively innocent mistake”.
Sheriff Graham Primrose told Ogilvie he appreciated her innocent intentions but noted she did commit an offence and the public do need to be protected from this type of dog, particularly given the publicity surrounding them.
The sheriff fined Ogilvie £240.
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